Dive Brief:

• Google Inc. is about to sign a lease on cobblestoned Greene Street in Soho, which has recently enjoyed a surge in high-end retail occupancies, Crain’s New York Business reported Tuesday.

• Google runs physical retail stores in Australia and Europe, but not in the U.S.

• The tech firm is increasingly getting in the hardware game with its Google Glass, Chromebook Pixel, and Project Ara modular smartphone.

Dive Insight:

First there was those mysterious Google barges, described by the company as interactive spaces for people to experience cutting-edge technology, but which most people just vaguely wondered about. A Google retail store, though, is another thing entirely. If it’s true that Google is about to sign the lease on Greene Street in New York’s Soho neighborhood, as described in Crain's New York Business, it will be near an Apple store, among other retailers. It’s a high-profile spot for Google’s first American storefront, which makes it a bit risky. But it could be just the thing for Google to shine in one of New York’s most happening shopping neighborhoods.